How to Concentrate Yourself when Meditating

How to Concentrate Yourself when Meditating

 

Meditation—it's more than just an art. In fact, it's a way of lifestyle. If you want proof, you can check out photos of or talk to monks. Majority of them spend their time praying and meditating every day.

 

This exercise brings along a lot of benefits not only to the practitioners but also to basically everyone. A manager can meditate to clear his mind from the daily pressures of work. A mom can meditate to calm herself down when she's faced with rowdy children. A student can also do so in order to make herself feel relaxed prior to an examination.

 

However, one should not expect that meditation can work all the time. One of the leading factors for failure to meditate will be concentration.

 

When you're meditating, you're almost shutting yourself off from the rest of the world—from the noise, people, and sights—and focus yourself on the here and now, the present moment. That is something not everyone can accomplish as their minds always drift off to their everyday responsibilities.

 

Nevertheless, you can increase the chances of having a successful meditation and reap the benefits that go along with it. You can begin with the following:

 

1. Determine a good time to meditate. It will definitely help you a lot if you can meditate at a time when you're least distracted. Usually, this is before bedtime. After all there's nothing else to do than to sleep. It's also much easier for you to meditate since you have already preprogrammed your conscious mind that you will relax soon after.

 

Nevertheless, you can meditate also in the morning. This may be ideal if you're facing a very hectic schedule. You can meditate to clear your mind of your goals and focus on the most important tasks.

 

2. Couple it with subliminal messages. Subliminal messages are usually given in terms of affirmations or positive statements. You can have general subliminal messages such as "I feel good today" or "I look forward to this day" or you can customize them to reflect your challenges. For example, if you are battling low self-esteem, your subliminal messages can be "I am confident of myself" or "I have the power to rise above my insecurities."

 

You can write your own subliminal messages, or you can simply play CDs or mp3s with them. The good thing about having subliminal messages while meditating is you can focus on the statements. Moreover, meditation also helps you access your subconscious, where you need to place these messages.

 

3. Focus on your breath. When a lot of things disturb you and you cannot immediately block them off your mind, you can just concentrate on your breaths. This means feeling the air going in and out of your body, as well as the movements of your diaphragm and lungs. You can take very slow deep breaths. It would not take a while before you can find yourself getting rid of the clutter and just concentrated on the present moment.